Tim’s Diner of Leominster, Mass.

One of my very favorite diners

Tim’s Diner, Water Street in Leominster, Mass. A circa 1950s photo showing the diner with the original name of Roy’s
Diner on the porcelain panels.
Photo Courtesy of Tim’s Diner

I first learned about Tim’s Diner when I saw an article that appeared in one of the local newspapers, possibly The Boston Globe, sometime between 1979 and 1980. I more than likely still have the news-clipping in my 5-drawer flat file but it would be a chore to dig it out. I believe it was written by Richard J.S. Gutman and the article was highlighting some classic diners in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This article had been published just prior to when I started documenting diners with my photographs.

A little background on Tim’s Diner, it is a 1949 Silk City Diner (Car No. 4921) built by the Paterson Vehicle Company of Paterson, New Jersey. It was purchased by Roy Hemenway (or Hemingway) and originally named “Roy’s Diner”. In 1953, Tim Kamataris Sr. purchased the diner from Hemenway and rechristened the business “Tim’s Diner”.

With the shooting of my first diner photo on November 29, 1980 while visiting in Harrisburg, PA, I got back home and started taking more diner photos, blanketing the Boston area, up thru the North Shore, out towards Lawrence and Lowell, into the Metro-West area as far as Worcester. By the end of July of 1981 when I started to keep a “Diner Log”, I had started venturing further afield, documenting diners in Spencer, Orange and Northampton. Now granted, my entries into the Diner Log were sporadic at first and there were quite a few that did not get properly logged with info such as dates of first photos, etc. But I know I must have visited the Fitchburg-Leominster area along the Route 2 corridor, but did not get to Tim’s Diner until early September of 1981.

It looks like I had taken a trip on Saturday September 5, 1981, starting out in Leominster where I photographed Tim’s and the Central Square Diner on the way to getting photos of the Pizza Pub in Wilbraham, Taco Villa in Amherst and Ross’ Diner in Holyoke. The first three photos I shot of Tim’s Diner were the only ones I got of the diner when it still looked the way it came from the factory….

Tim’s Diner, Water Street in Leominster, Mass.
September 5, 1981 photo by Larry Cultrera

Tim’s Diner, Water Street in Leominster, Mass.
September 5, 1981 photo by Larry Cultrera

Tim’s Diner, Water Street in Leominster, Mass.
September 5, 1981 photo by Larry Cultrera

So not long after that first visit to Tim’s, tragedy struck when a motorist veered off the road, more than likely taking the turn too wide from Mechanic Street onto Water Street and hit the front of the diner. The original factory-built entryway was destroyed along with the stainless steel facade under the front windows being damaged beyond repair. Tim Kamataris Sr. made the decision to replace the entryway and facade under all the windows along the front and right side of the diner with brick. Ironically, a second car accident hit the front wall again within a fairly short time after the damage was repaired from the first accident, this time to the right of the new entryway. This accident caused more damage with the brick facade and wall behind it being pushed in by a few inches. The stainless steel panels above the windows and the trim at the corners of the diner were left intact which In retrospect would help with the eventual restoration that happened in the last year and a half.

Tim’s Diner with brick entryway and facade after the two
accidents. 2008 Photo by Larry Cultrera

Tim’s Diner with brick entryway and facade after the two
accidents. April 18, 2009 Photo by Larry Cultrera

Sometime in the early 2000s, I became friends with Tim Kamataris Jr. when I started to frequent the diner more often, usually with my pal Steve Repucci. Tim related to me how he always lamented the fact that his dad had put the brick on the diner. He expressed that he would love to restore the diner but knew it would take a lot of money to do it correctly and he did not see how he could raise the funds to do the job.

Yours Truly with Tim Kamataris Jr. at Tim’s Diner
January 12, 2013 photo by Steve Repucci

Interior of Tim’s Diner, Steve Repucci (with hat) sitting at the counter. March 26, 2011 photo by Larry Cultrera

Interior of Tim’s Diner, Steve Repucci sitting at the counter. March 26, 2011 photo by Larry Cultrera

Interior of the back dining room at Tim’s Diner.
March 26, 2011 photo by Larry Cultrera

Interior of the back dining room at Tim’s Diner.
March 26, 2011 photo by Larry Cultrera

from left to right -Yours Truly with my brothers Don & Rick
with Tim Kamataris and his sister Gail Kamataris-Prizio in the
background. January 27, 2020 photo from Larry Cultrera

Tim’s Diner with the walls prepped awaiting the new
stainless steel panels. November 18, 2022 photo by Larry Cultrera

Within the last two years or so, Tim found out that the diner was eligible for Government grants from the city of Leominster which made it possible to finally restore the exterior of the diner to a reasonable facsimile to the way it originally looked. He had a local contractor do the prep work by removing the brick work under the windows on the front and right side of the diner. The front wall to the right of the entryway under the windows was dismantled in order to pull the steel beam back out. The tile-work on the inside of the wall was replaced although not an exact match to the originals, it still looks good and the booths located on that wall help to hide it to a degree.

The Summer of 2023, new replacement windows were installed but the stainless steel panels were not installed until early December. My wife Denise and I made a quick trip out on December 20, 2023 to document the diner with the completed restoration. This restoration included cladding the brick entryway with stainless steel as well.

Tim’s Diner with new stainless steel facade.
December 20, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

Tim’s Diner with new stainless steel facade.
December 20, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

Tim’s Diner with new stainless steel facade.
December 20, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

All in all, I am happy to say that I believe that Tim’s Diner looks much better and closer to the way it originally looked. It has been over 40 years and it was well worth the wait, a job well done!!!!

Acknowledging 16 years of Diner Hotline – more Diners on the move

Okay, so October 31st has come back around and as regular followers of Diner Hotline may know, I always like to acknowledge that this is the anniversary of the start of this blog. It has been 16 years since the debut of this blog which originally started out as a column in the Society for Commercial Archeology’s (SCA) News Journal which I wrote in December of 1987. This first Diner Hotline column which was not even a whole page, appeared in the Winter 1988 edition of the News Journal, a newsletter type publication by the SCA.

Eventually the News Journal was divided into two publications two or three years after I started the column – the SCA News (membership newsletter) and the SCA Journal (a magazine). At that point, I was given the option as to which publication Diner Hotline would appear in and I opted for the SCA Journal. Diner Hotline continued until the 2007 Summer Edition of the Journal when I decided to retire the column. Within a month or so after I discontinued the column, my friend Brian Butko emailed me. Brian knew I was thinking of continuing Diner Hotline possibly as another entity, and suggested I start a blog. So on October 31, 2007 this blog came into being…

So instead of just acknowledging the anniversary of the blog, I thought I would impart some news about a handful of diners being sold to new owners and hopefully (most) will be brought back as working diners in the near future.

Harrisburg’s By-Pass Diner moved from long-time operating location & saved from possible demolition.

The very first diner I ever photographed was the By-Pass Diner of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. That one photo taken on November 29, 1980 led to my taking thousands of photos of 896 diners since and that diner has always held a spot close to my heart.

By-Pass Diner, Harrisburg, PA
November 29, 1980 by Larry Cultrera.

The diner changed hands in the 1990s and the new owner Fred Jenkins operated it for many years as the American Dream Diner before closing in 2020. As of January 28, 2021, the diner had reopened as Harry’s Bistro by Lou Antonio Vazquez with his daughters, Audrey and Anna Vazquez. Unfortunately for some reason the diner was forced to close within a few months of re-opening. As of earlier this year it was announced that the property the diner occupied as well as the parcel next door that housed a gas station was going to be redeveloped and the diner was put up for sale.

According to a news article dated last week (October 26, 2023) by Sue Gleiter of Penn Live, the diner was disassembled and moved across the street to get it out of harms way. The following is the gist of the news article… A nostalgic Harrisburg diner saved from the scrap heap by a longtime customer and local insurance agent, could face roadblocks as attempts are made to resurrect it at a new address. Hugh Dorsey recently bought the 70-year-old American Dream Diner at 1933 Herr St., where a convenience store is slated to be built. He then relocated the 1953 stainless steel DeRaffele diner across the street to a vacant lot next to the former State Police headquarters in Susquehanna Township.

Sections of the By-Pass Diner after the move
to property across the street.
Photo by Dan Gleiter, Penn Live.

At the time of this report, it is not clear where the diner may end up or if in fact it will be set up and reopened. I truly hope this diner will have a good outcome!

World Famous Rosie’s Diner gets sold after 12 years sitting idle.

Rosie’s Farmland Diner, Little Ferry, NJ.
June 24, 1983 photo by Larry Cultrera.

The diner known as Rosie’s was originally operated as the Silver Dollar Diner in Little Ferry, New Jersey. Built in 1946 by the Paramount Dining Car Company, the diner was located at the traffic circle on U.S. Route 46 when it opened in the 1940s. Owned by Ralph A. (Tex) Corrado, Sr. and his young son, Ralph A. Corrado, Jr., the Corrados operated the diner together until Tex retired in the early 1960s when Ralph Jr. took over and eventually renamed the business the Farmland Diner.

The diner’s large size and close proximity to New York City were perfect for the diner to become the location for many print ads and television commercials, for different products and services. In the earlier days of the diner, commercials were filmed for Sanka Instant Coffee and Pepsi Cola. Other companies like Ethan Allen Furniture, New Jersey Bell and Sony used the diner’s location for their advertisements. However, the series of TV commercials that made the diner famous were for Bounty Paper Towels. 

The Bounty commercials were filmed at the diner during the 1970s when it was known as the Farmland Diner (local Little Ferry residents affectionately referred to it as “The Greasy Spoon”). In the TV commercials, clumsy patrons would knock over beverages, and Rosie the Waitress, played by the late actress Nancy Walker, would clean up the mess using Bounty Paper Towels, pronouncing the product the “quicker picker-upper”. Two decades after the first commercials were filmed, Walker was still cleaning up after her television customers, but in a studio instead of in the diner. After the Bounty Paper Towel commercials became well known, Ralph Corrado decided to take advantage of the notoriety and renamed the restaurant in the 1970s to Rosie’s Farmland Diner after the waitress character from the commercials.

In 1989, after running the diner for 45 years, Ralph Corrado and his son Arnie sold the land under the diner to the auto glass repair shop next door. The business did not want the diner, leaving it up to Corrado to sell the building. His offer to place “the most famous diner in America” in the Smithsonian Institution was rejected.

At this time, in steps Jerry Berta, a Michigan artist that produced ceramic replicas of classic diners, with the original Rosie’s as one of his inspirations. He already owned one diner, the former Uncle Bob’s Diner a 1947 Jerry O’Mahony diner (moved from Flint, Michigan circa 1987) at that time located on his site on 14 Mile Road in Rockford, Michigan. Berta used that diner as a studio and gallery known as The Diner Store.

On a subsequent trip to the New York City area toward the end of 1989, Jerry and some friends revisited Rosie’s Diner and found out that the New Jersey diner was for sale. Berta bought Rosie’s and moved it to Michigan to it’s current location. The purchase price at the time was $10,000 for the 24-by-60-foot (7.3 by 18.3 m) building. Work crews separated the two sections of the diner and lifted it off the foundation the week after it closed in January of 1990. The sections were loaded onto two flatbed trucks for the move to Michigan. The restaurant opened in its new location on July 5, 1991. The following link is from a video I posted to You Tube featuring all of my photos of Rosie’s Diner….https://youtu.be/2XlDiGzRM3I

The Diner Store and Rosie’s Diner in Rockford, MI.
1990s photo by Fred Tiensivu.

Diner World in the late 1990s. Left to right –
Diner Store, Rosie’s Diner, the former Garden of
Eatin’ Diner and an on-site built addition.
Photo courtesy of Jerry Berta.

The vintage two-diner collection expanded to three when Berta purchased the former Garden of Eatin’ diner (a 1952 Silk City) and moved it from Fulton, New York to the Michigan site in 1994. A fourth (reproduction) diner was also built on site as an addition. Known collectively as Diner World or Dinerland USA, the location featured the Diner Store art gallery (in the O’Mahony car), Rosie’s Diner (the primary restaurant), and a 3 ¹⁄₂ acre food-themed mini-golf course designed by Berta, where guests could putt around a big burger and slice of pie. The roadside attraction continued under Berta’s ownership being operated by able management and staff until 2006, when it was purchased by new owner/operators.

View of Diner WorldPhoto
Photo courtesy of Tom Loftus &
Robin Schwartzman on
their Website ” A Couple of Putts”.

Jonelle and Randy Roest purchased the diner in January 2006. They continued to run Rosie’s as a diner and reopened the Silk City car as a sports bar. The O’Mahony car was opened seasonally as an ice cream shop. The mini-golf course was not reopened. While under the Roests’ ownership, the location received TV coverage on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and the Travel Channel’s Diner Paradise.

Rosie’s Diner closed for business on October 2, 2011. The property was sold through online auction to Aaron Koehn of nearby Koehn Chevrolet, with a winning bid of $125,000. In September 2014, he offered tours of the buildings as part of a car show that attracted an estimated 3,000 people.

Since then the diners including Rosie’s have sat idle – slowly deterioratng. But the good news is that within the last two weeks it was announced that Rosie’s Diner has been bought by Chuck and Dawn Perry of Millersburg, Missouri and they’re going to restore it. He’s a car restorer, and she runs restaurants. So, it’s like the perfect fit,” said Berta. Although the Perry’s actually purchased the diner last winter, all the T’s are crossed and the I’s dotted, allowing the process of moving the diner to it’s new location. This transition may take some time but it looks like Rosie’s has found a new home and a renewed lease on life!

Dawn Perry at Rosie’s Diner in Rockford, MI.
Courtesy of Dawn Perry.

Shawmut Diner of New Bedford will live again!

The Shawmut Diner, New Bedford, MA
early 2000s photo by Larry Cultrera

One of my favorite diners in Massachusetts -the Shawmut Diner, formerly of New Bedford looks to be on the road shortly to a new location and life in Norwich, Connecticut. The Shawmut Diner closed in 2014 when long-time owners Phil and Celeste Paleologos decided to retire. Back in the mid-to-late 1990s, Phil who also had a daytime gig as a local Radio personality hosted a daily news/talk and entertainment show right from the diner. Called the Diner Show, he interviewed national personalities from show business and politics to the local customers of the diner. I was on his show quite a few times.

Phil Paleologos and myself in the broadcast
booth set up in the back corner of the
Shawmut Diner.
September, 1998 photo by Denise Cultrera

Back at the beginning of 2014 the Paleologos’ had a generous offer from Cumberland Farms, a local Gas Station/Convenience Store chain for the property. The Paleologos’ hoped to sell the large 1953 vintage Jerry O’Mahony Diner but were not getting any reasonable offers in the short time allotted. So they in turn donated the building to the Bristol County House of Correction and had it moved to the prison’s property in nearby Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

Phil and Celeste Paleologos on the last day of
operation at the Shawmut Diner.
March 20, 2014 photo by Larry Cultrera

The hoped for plan was to get the funds to set the diner back up and have it used for vocational training to rehabilitate inmates prior to release. Unfortunately, this plan never came to fruition and the diner has been sitting on blocks awaiting it’s fate.

Earlier this year the current Sheriff of Bristol County announced plans to put the diner building up for auction. The auction was held in July and the winning bid of $20,200 was won by New Yorker Evan Blum, owner of Demolition Depot in Harlem, and the yet-to-open Irreplaceable Artifacts of Norwich, Connecticut.

According to Blum, while his business is in buying and selling old items like the Shawmut Diner, he has other plans in this case. “I have a property over in Norwich, CT and I’m opening up an art, antiques and crafts market there,” he said, “and I wanted to put this in the parking lot to help attract more people.

“I figured I’d get one of my operators there to bring in some decent food and set it up so it’ll be an accomodation.” Blum, noted that he is still working out “some logistics” of transporting the diner from the Bristol County House of Correction property in Dartmouth to Norwich, Connecticut, said he looks to have the diner up and running “some time next year.”

On a side note, the last diner to operate in Norwich was Burt’s Diner which was moved out in the 1980s and is now operating in Hubbard, Ohio as the Emerald Diner.

Burt’s Diner, Norwich, Connecticut
July 10, 1983 photo by Larry Cultrera

Miss Bellows Falls Diner on track for a restoration and reopening!

Miss Bellows Falls Diner, Bellows Falls, VT.
August 7, 1983 by Larry Cultrera.

The Miss Bellows Falls Diner, Worcester Lunch Car No. 771 was the second diner to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Built by Worcester in 1941and originally installed in Lowell, Massachusetts as Frankie and Johnny’s Diner, its stay in Lowell was brief.

The diner was then transported to Bellows Falls, Vermont in 1942 to begin a new life, adorned with new front panels announcing the diner’s new identity. It has since been operated under quite a few different people over the intervening decades which continued until it closed in early 2020 at the beginning of the Pandemic.

Fast forward to May, 2023 and it was reported that after signing a purchase and sales agreement earlier in the Spring, Rockingham for Progress (RFP) took possession of the diner.

RFP, a nonprofit formed in 2016 to promote progressive economic development, an appreciation of the historic and cultural value of Bellows Falls, and citizen participation in our local democratic processes had plans for the diner’s revival. Undertaking the challenge of restoring the Miss Bellows Falls Diner to its original working condition is being done in consultation with historic diner expert Richard J.S. Gutman and with the support of a $100,000 Paul Bruhn grant from the Preservation Trust of Vermont.

“They plan on using the grant funds exclusively for the restoration of the historic dining car. Both the exterior and interior will be repaired and restored, including the marble counter, tile-work, built-in coolers, stools, oak booths, fixtures, signage and stained-glass filigrees on the windows,” the Preservation Trust said in a prepared statement.

Red Wing Diner of Walpole, Massachusetts closed and For Sale.

The Red Wing Diner, a long-time favorite restaurant on U.S. Route 1 in Walpole, Massachusetts known for its fried seafood and iconic (bar Pie) pizza has closed.

Back on September 5, 2023, an announcement was posted on the Red Wing Diner’s Facebook page that the diner was temporarily closed for repairs. By the beginning of October a “For Sale” sign had appeared outside the diner.

The Red Wing Diner, Walpole MA.
May 26, 2006 photo by Larry Cultrera.

The Red Wing Diner, Walpole MA.
1930s photo from my collection.

The Red Wing is Worcester Lunch Car, No. 709 dating from 1933. The diner was expanded later when the owners purchased the former railroad depot in town. They moved the building to the diner’s location and attached it to the left side of the diner.

The Red Wing Diner showing the attached
addition in the 1940s, from my collection.

Jack Conway Realtors out of Mansfield is handling the sale. It is listing the 2,727-square-foot restaurant and 5-acre property at $1.35 million. Unfortunately, with a price tag of that size, redevelopment would be a likely scenario and it seems unlikely the diner will survive. We will have to see how this pans out.

Sherwood’s Diner purchased by the Worcester Red Sox. Restored & installed adjacent to Polar Park

When I first started photographing diners in the early 1980s, I revisited places in my home state of Massachusetts I recalled from earlier travels. These places were not only in the eastern part of the state where I live, but also extended to the greater Worcester area. You see for a good portion of the 1970s, my older brother Steve lived in Dudley and Auburn, both suburbs of Worcester, so I was familiar with the area. Among the diners I recalled seeing from those earlier times was Sherwood’s Diner, Worcester Lunch Car No. 755. It was located in a commercial stretch of State Route 12, south of Worcester in Auburn. The diner was last used as an ice cream stand and by the time I started documenting diners with my photographs, Sherwood’s had not been in operation for quite some time. According to my Diner Log database my first photos of Sherwood’s date to September 26, 1981.

the second of three photos taken on September 26, 1981

In the intervening years, between 1981 until now, quite a bit of information has surfaced concerning the history of this diner. One of the most interesting pieces of information I learned was the fact that when the diner was brand-new, it was delivered to its first operating location in my hometown of Medford, Massachusetts on February 8, 1940. It was built for Treadway L. Sherwood who ran it for a short time before the Worcester Lunch Car Company repossessed it. According to what I can gather from the info written on the Worcester Lunch Car Company preliminary layout drawing, Mr. Sherwood may have been from Brooklyn, New York but was going to operate the diner at 109 Middlesex Avenue in Medford. That address would be close to the northern edge of Wellington Circle, the intersection of State Routes 16 and 28. A number of years ago when I found out that the diner had been located briefly in Medford, I asked a handful of older local people I knew if they recalled Sherwood’s. I found for the most part, the people I asked either did not recall the diner or had vague recollections of it. Also, to my knowledge no photographs exist of the diner when it was operating at that first location. Interesting note (circled on the layout drawing) was the later addition of the new address of 70 Foster Street @ Commercial Street when the diner was moved to its new operating location Worcester in 1942.

Interior layout for Car # 755 from the notebooks of Charles Gemme, Vice President & Superintendent/designer of the Worcester Lunch Car & Carriage Manufacturing Company. I had to do some very heavy clean-up on this copy of the layout drawing to make it readable.

This interior photo from 1984 shows that by this point anyone could enter the diner and it was being vandalized. Photo by Larry Cultrera

Exterior view of Sherwood’s in 1984 shows it was still relatively intact on the outside. Phioto by Larry Cultrera

I found it curious about the note on the drawing listing the new address as 70 Foster Street in Worcester as there are other accounts stating that Ernest Ryan bought the diner in 1942 and it remained in business at 56 Foster Street until it closed in 1969. I believe there could be two schools of thoughts accounting for the discrepancy… 1. that maybe street numbers changed at one point in time, or 2. Charlie Gemme got it wrong when he made the note on his drawing.

The Worcester Redevelopment Authority took the property where the diner was located along with adjacent parcels by eminent domain in 1970 to make way for the development of what is currently known as the DCU Center (originally named the Worcester Centrum when it was built). At that time, the diner was moved briefly to Shrewsbury prior to being relocated to Route 12 in Auburn, where it was used as an ice cream stand for a while before it closed. As I stated above, when I photographed it in 1981, it had been closed for a few years already. It eventually fell victim to vandals by the mid to late 1980s and by the middle of the next decade it was in very sad shape before it was ultimately saved from demolition in the late 1990s. The diner was moved to various storage locations in Rhode Island before it ended up stored in shrink wrap behind a business on Route 146 in Sutton, Massachusetts. The diner stayed at the Sutton storage location for over a half dozen years, until recently.

A 1996 exterior photo shows it still in Auburn minus exterior panels and the window openings boarded up, prior to being extracted from this site. Photo by Larry Cultrera

From this 1996 exterior view, only the right end wall still has the exterior panels. Photo by Larry Cultrera

Jump ahead to July, 2021 when it is reported by the Worcester Telegram as well as other news sources that the WooSox Foundation, a charitable arm of the Worcester Red Sox had purchased and was restoring Sherwood’s Diner. The plan as described was that the diner would serve as headquarters for the Foundation and be installed into the new Polar Park complex. The WooSox, a professional minor league baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts is the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. From 1973 until 2020 the team had been known as the Pawtucket (Rhode Island) Red Sox. The restoration was being made possible through a donation from the Fuller Foundation.

After the WooSox Foundation took possession of Sherwood’s, they contracted with Steve Stutman of Stutman Contracting to start working on the diner. It was transported to Worcester and placed in a vacant lot behind the O’Connor Brothers Funeral Home on Park Avenue, which had donated the place to allow for the restaurant’s renovation. Finally inspecting the diner after the shrink wrap was removed, Stutman was quoted in a newspaper article that “It was worse than we thought,” he said. “The front and back walls had to be completely rebuilt, and a lot of other things had to be done. We had the shell and some parts that were inside like the old refrigerator, some equipment that was left behind. “ Perhaps the most important part of any restaurant is the counter and it was gone.

When work was started on the restoration, it was discovered that the front and back walls needed to be completely rebuilt. Photo by Steve Stutman courtesy of Richard J.S. Gutman.

However, the executive director of the Worcester Historical Museum, William Wallace, put the architect Janet Marie Smith, who was leading the baseball stadium project for the WooSox, in touch with Richard J.S. Gutman of West Roxbury, author of four books on diners and considered the best restoration expert in the country. His advice was invaluable in restoring the restaurant to an approximation of its original condition. He helped facilitate the donation of a marble counter top and stools that had been salvaged from another Worcester Lunch Car. “Ramshackle is an understatement,” Gutman said of Sherwood’s Diner. “I know Steve Stutman did a miracle… it’s perfectly awesome that they are doing this. This puts an exclamation mark on something that has been one of the city’s triumphs.

Before Gutman was asked to join the project, a decision had already been made not to use porcelain enamel walls on both the exterior and inside of the diner where the original panels were gone. MDF board (an engineered wood product similar to plywood, but made using wood fibers combined with wax and a resin binder) was already in place on the façade when Gutman first saw the partially-renovated diner on April 21, 2021. A sign-painter had been hired to reproduce the original graphics.

Sherwood’s Diner under restoration. Photo courtesy of the Worcester Telegram

So work on the diner’s restoration was fast-tracked through this summer and the diner was actually moved into its new spot on Summit Street just beyond centerfield of the Worcester Red Sox’s Polar Park on August 23, 2021. A crane lifted the structure off the flatbed truck that was used to transport it onto a new foundation facing the ball park. This location on Summit Street is to become Worcester’s de-facto version of Boston’s Jersey Street. Dubbed Summit Street Fair, it will be a boulevard packed with fans, food and activities before the game. Sherwood’s Diner will be featured along with other attractions like the retired Boston Duck Boat, “Beantown Betty” which had been used by the Boston Red Sox for celebrating their 2004 World Series championship. Murals and playgrounds will also add to the flavor of the street. Summit Street Fair will typically have music, magicians, face painters, and other family fun elements. Mascots Smiley Ball and Woofster are expected to be frequent visitors.

The diner will still be a spot to grab food such as coffee, Table Talk Pies and Polar Beverages. The WooSox Foundation also plan to use it as a space to host player autograph signings, mascot meet-and-greets, broadcast radio shows and host other events. Another report from Spectrumnews1.com stated that Sherwood’s Diner will house information on all of the charities and non-profits they work with, as well as serve as a broadcast booth. Worcester Red Sox president, Charles Steinberg, says this will act as a community gathering place at the ball park. “Imagine walking into the diner, seeing the gang at “Cheers,” except it’s actually former ballplayers signing autographs, doing a post game radio or TV show or just talking to fans,” said Dr. Steinberg. “So imagine there could always be a surprise as far as who you will see, what you might get. It might seem like a diner, but it might be even more than that.”

After following the news on Sherwood’s and updates of the progress from Dick Gutman, I finally found some time to take the ride out to Worcester on Saturday, September 4th. Accompanied by my brother Steve (who has memories of actually getting ice cream at Sherwood’s when it was in Auburn), we hooked up with Brian Goslow, the managing editor of Artscope Magazine. I contacted Brian, a born & bred Worcester native a day or two before we drove out from the Boston area. Although we have known each other for years as long-time Facebook friends, this was our first face-to-face meeting to my recollection. We checked out the diner without getting too close. It was within a fenced-in work zone and there were workers in and around the diner’s location. We asked permission to come into the fenced-in area to take photos of the diner and it was granted.

Sherwood’s Diner at Polar Park. September 4, 2021 photo by Larry Cultrera

Left to right, Larry & Steve Cultrera at Sherwood’s after installation adjacent to Polar Park.
September 4, 2021 photo by Brian Goslow

Left to right, Larry Cultrera & Brian Goslow at Sherwood’s after installation adjacent to Polar Park.
September 4, 2021 photo by Steve Cultrera

While there, we checked out Polar Park and it is beautiful, I could not resist taking some photos of this brand-new ball park. Maybe we’ll take in a ballgame sometime in the near future…

I have not discovered the name of this cartoon-like statue located diagonally across Summit Street from Sherwood’s Diner. Photo from September 4, 2021 by Larry Cultrera

View of Polar Park from Summit Street behind Centerfield. Photo from September 4, 2021 by Larry Cultrera

View of Polar Park from Summit Street behind Centerfield. Photo from September 4, 2021 by Larry Cultrera

View of Polar Park from Summit Street behind Centerfield. Photo from September 4, 2021 by Larry Cultrera

After our visit to the park, we drove around the corner to have lunch at George’s Coney Island Lunch, a favorite stop of mine while in Worcester. We had some chili dogs to top off a great visit….

George’s Coney Island Lunch has possibly one of the best neon signs in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts…. April 8, 2018 photo by Larry Cultrera

Pet peeve time – It truly has always bothered me when people use the term “Greasy Spoon” or “railroad car” in relation to writing about diners….

1st pet peeve – Writers and or reporters referring to Diners as Greasy Spoons

Back on March 25, 2020, Jeremy Ebersole – a current Vice President of the Society for Commercial Archeology (SCA) who makes frequent contributions/posts to the SCA Facebook page posted a photo album to that page entitled “Greasy Spoons from sea to shining sea”. Now I had no problem with the photos per se, but I have always bristled at the term “Greasy Spoon”. In fact being a member of the SCA myself since 1981, I was somewhat shocked to see the term used by someone affiliated with the world’s premier organization that deals with documenting and preserving the businesses and sociological aspects of the American Roadside. Especially since the origins of this blog came out of the first ever regular column (Diner Hotline) that was featured in SCA publications.

Because I personally believe the use of this term in regards to Diners is derogatory… shortly after reading the post by Jeremy Eborsole, I decided to hold an informal poll and ask a few people I know and respect, what their feelings are on the use of the term “Greasy Spoon” in reference to diners?

Glenn Wells, diner aficionado, Roadsidefans.com

Glenn Wells: I agree. I think the term is used more by people who dislike diners to put them down, rather than embraced by people who like diners. As you saw I was VERY surprised to see SCA use that term the way they did Also found something I wrote around 2001 on my web site (not updated for a long time) under Diner FAQs: Some people refer to a diner as a “hash house” or a “greasy spoon.” Does this mean the food is bad? Let’s be honest for a minute. If every diner from the beginning of time had been spotlessly clean and served delicious food, such terms never would have entered the vocabulary. Some diners DO serve food deserving of the epithets that some people hurl at ALL diners. But diners are hardly alone in serving sub-par food. Even some very high priced restaurants can turn out some meals that are less than satisfactory. Then, of course, there are the fast food chains, where the fare is more consistent from location to location, but that does not mean that it is good.

Richard J.S. Gutman, preeminent Diner Scholar

Richard J.S. Gutman: I hate the phrase! Glad you are doing this. I can’t believe that the SCA used it recently…several times.

Ron Dylewski, diner aficionado, writer,
designer, commercial director and editor

Ron Dylewski: We often hear people refer to classic diners as “greasy spoons.” To many this might seem like an innocuous term, even a term of endearment. It is perhaps a more visual nickname than simply, diner. It can appear more evocative, denoting a certain je ne sais quoi or an ineffable quality that can’t be captured by simply saying “diner”. But none of that matters. The phrase is pejorative and should be stricken from any journalistic or scholarly writing, unless the phrase is called out for what it is; a slur. Similar names, such as grease pit, hash house and beanery are similarly used to denigrate diners. Writers are often encouraged to spice up their writing by using these terms. It just seems to add flavor to their prose, but in this case the flavor is all off. It actually distracts from the reality of what diners are and were. Now, don’t get me wrong. Not every diner is spic and span and not every one serves wonderful home-cooked meals. But that’s a decisionthat a writer would have to make on a case-by-case basis, not as a blanket statement about all diners.

Bill Katsifis, owner/operator of the East Shore Diner, Harrisburg, PA

East Shore Diner, photo by Larry Cultrera, January 1, 1985

Bill Katsifis, East Shore Diner: I do think the term greasy spoon is a degrading adjective. Makes it feel dirty. Yes, Greasy spoon, makes a diner/restaurant sound like a less than desirable place to eat. Thanks for the diner work you do….

Alexis Lekkas, owner/operator of Alexis Diner, Troy, NY

Alexis Diner, photo by Larry Cultrera, August 8, 2002

Alexis Lekkas, Alexis Diner: I agree with you. Only greasy spoon diners consider that a compliment and there are not many of them. By the way I am still in business even with all the Covid-19 issues…

Alex Panko, former owner of Peter Pank Diner

Larry Cultrera, Alex Panko and Les Cooper. Alex Panko is
the former owner of the Peter Pank Diner, Sayersville, NJ

Peter Pank Diner, photo courtesy of Alex Panko

Alex Panko, former owner of Peter Pank Diner: Hey Larry I am with, you, greasy spoon is derogatory. But I would always make a joke and made the people who referred to the diner in that way look stupid if they said that to me. LOL !!!!

Maria Pagelos Wall, co-owner of the Village Diner, Milford, PA

Village Diner, photo from Larry Cultrera, November 27, 1981

Maria Pagelos Wall, Village Diner: I don’t like it. To me, it makes it sound like a place is dirty with low quality food.

Michael Engle, diner aficionado/author

Michael Engle: I think for anyone who has put the time, passion, energy, and back breaking labor into running their diner or restaurant, that is the last thing they want to hear.  There are a number of people who are so far removed from the food industry. Many of these same people, especially the ones who find a diner “cute,” like they would a puppy, these are the people who are perfectly fine with the term.  They don’t mean any harm by the term.  And these people are validated by the few restaurant owners who adore the term.

Brian Butko, diner aficionado/author

Brian Butko: I agree, we’ve always avoided that term. I recall old diner industry mags discussing the term, and always talking about how diners should help themselves by paying attention to details, paving parking lots, lifting the industry, acting like “real restaurants,” that could be a fun angle.

Jeremy Ebersole, current Vice President of
the Society for Commercial Archeology

Jeremy Ebersole: Thanks so much for letting me know, Larry. I certainly didn’t mean to offend. I’ve used the term my whole life and never thought of it as derogatory, and that photo album has been up for years without any negative feedback. However, I certainly do not want to offend or imply that the SCA does not hold diners in the highest esteem. I love diners with every fiber of my being and just had no idea that term was contentious. I’ve been going back through all the old SCA publications and reading them. They’re just so great, and I always really enjoy your column! Please let me know when your blog is published and I will make sure we promote it on the SCA Facebook page!
P.S.: Jeremy changed the title of the post to “Awesome eateries from sea to shining sea”.

2nd pet peeve – Writers and or reporters mentioning railroad cars/trolley cars when writing about Diners

Another thing happened recently which tends to cause me to freak out. In fact it is something that I have been calling out newspaper reporters on for the better part of 40 years. Around the beginning of June, 2020, reports came out of Maine about the resurrection of the Farmington Diner of Farmington, Maine.

A number of years ago (2008), Rachel Jackson decided to embark on a risky adventure and save the Farmington Diner when the land it was on was sold to a national pharmacy chain. She had the diner transported to property she owned a few miles away where it has sat in storage since. Within the last couple of years, Ms. Jackson actually bought another old diner that had operated in Pennsylvania and Connecticut under various names. Her plan was to use parts of each to restore  (the one out of Connecticut) and return it to operation under the Farmington Diner name.

The reporter , Donna M. Perry of the Sun Journal wrote the first recent report I read on the Farmington Diner, kept referring to both diners as railroad cars. I immediately sent off an email to this reporter:

 I just read the piece you wrote on the Farmington Diner. Thanks for the update as I was wondering what was happening up there. I write a blog on diners (www.dinerhotline.com) and have written 2 books for The History Press, (Classic Diners of Massachusetts, 2011) (New Hampshire Diners, Classic Granite State Eateries, 2014). I have been conducting a personal research project on diners since 1980. I have photographed approximately 870 plus diners since November 29th of that year. I just want to point out that writers/journalists like yourself have periodically perpetuated a common misconception that diners are rail cars or trolleys. That is far from accurate. Diners are custom built buildings, usually built by a Diner manufacturer and shipped to a specific (or more than one) location. The diners in question are both Mountain View Diners, manufactured in Singac, New Jersey.

Donna Perry responded to my email and told me she had used railcar diner in her piece because Rachel Jackson thought that it was a commonly used generic term. Perry went on to say that she would amend her online piece to just say diner.

The second report I read was from Maureen Milliken of Maine Business News (www.mainebiz.biz) and I was very happy to see that Ms. Milliken, a seasoned reporter had done her homework. Her piece was well researched and mentioned Mountain View Diners. Not only that, she found a blog post I wrote from 2010 on The Silver Diner of Waterbury CT being closed and in jeopardy, (this became the second diner rescued by Rachel Jackson). The link to my bog post is here… https://dinerhotline.wordpress.com/tag/the-new-lafayette-diner/
So I immediately wrote Maureen Milliken and thanked her for referring to my blog as well as doing her diligent research.

Just to give a quick primer, here are exterior and interior views of an old Dining Car from the Boston & Maine Railroad…

That being said, let me say that there were and are still examples of diners that had been created from converted train and trolley cars. Here are a few examples…

an old Postcard of Leona Hillier’s Dinette from my collection.
This is a converted railroad car…

The Club Car Restaurant, a converted railroad car,
located in Nantucket, Massachusetts

exterior view of Sisson’s Diner, a converted trolley located
in South Middleboro, Massachusetts

interior view of Sisson’s Diner, a converted trolley located
in South Middleboro, Massachusetts

exterior view of Bill Gates’ Diner, a converted trolley formerly
located in Bolton Landing, New York

interior view of Bill Gates’ Diner, a converted trolley formerly
located in Bolton Landing, New York

The following photos are examples of factory-built diners that had the railroad car resemblance in their details…

Chadwick Square Diner, Worcester, Massachusetts

The Sparky Diner, formerly of Pittsfield, Massachusetts

The Capitol Diner, Lynn, Massachusetts

Casey’s Diner, Natick, Massachusetts (looking like a caboose)

Down & Out Worcester Streamliner comes back to life!

I am happy to report that it is not all bad news with diners closing and or being demolished lately. There is good news coming out of Pawtucket, Rhode Island that happens to be a long time in coming to fruition.  A diner last operated in Middletown, Connecticut (closed in 1997) has been restored and re-opened as the Miss Lorraine Diner. Built as Worcester Lunch Car # 774, it was delivered to its first operating location, 357 Asylum Street in Hartford, Connecticut on August 12, 1941 and operated as Donwells Diner-Restaurant.

a newspaper ad announcing the opening of Donwells Diner

an old matchbook cover for Donwells Diner

According to Richard Gutman, the name of the diner came from the combining of the original owner’s names, J. Edward & Edith Donnellan and Chester L. Wells… hence the contraction, Donwells. I am not sure when the diner was moved to Middletown from Hartford, but I had heard stories that the original owners may have gotten into debt with some unsavory people who came and basically stripped the diner of any pieces of equipment that were moveable, including all the booths and tables.

Be that as it may, by the time WLC # 774 got to 200 E. Main Street in Middletown, the diner was a ghost of its former self. It was purchased by Stanley “Squeak” Zawisa to replace an older barrel-roofed diner he operated across the street as the South Farms Lunch, described as a 10 stool Worcester Lunch Car. I first came across Squeak’s Diner on a dreary Sunday afternoon diner road-trip with Steve Repucci and David Hebb on October 4, 1987. We had stopped at O’Rourke’s Diner (in Middletown) and were told of this other diner being in town.

Squeak’s Diner, October 4, 1987 photo by Larry Cultrera

Squeak’s Diner, October 4, 1987 photo by Larry Cultrera

Squeak’s Diner, October 4, 1987 photo by Larry Cultrera

We found out that it was not open on Sundays when we stopped to check it out, but on a subsequent visit on a weekday during another road-trip, I did get to eat breakfast there. I will say that I can recall that the interior was in sad shape and I never thought that this diner would ever survive.

Ironically, in November of 1987, I met Colin Strayer a documentary film-maker based in Toronto, Canada, at the opening of the new exhibit of “The Automobile in American Life” at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Colin eventually became the person who saved Squeak’s Diner after it closed. I contacted Colin Strayer in a recent email to verify when he moved # 774 and he related the next information…

Your recollection of when I moved Squeak’s is correct. I rigged it out by hand throughout September, 2003.  Moving took place on Columbus Day, 2003. I believe Stanley Zawisa finally closed Squeak’s Diner (WLC #774) in 1997.  I’m not where my paper file on it is.  But if memory serves me it was 1997. Stanley had gone through something like 4 realtors in the 4 preceding years, without any success.

As I recall, Stanley tried to sell “the business” for $175,000. for several years.  In the end, I acquired just the diner, plus a provision I fill in the hole and grade to ground elevation, as well as clear away all the debris. There was a lot of old equipment in the basement, as well as a few pieces from the South Farms Lunch, a 1920s 10-stool WLC diner that had been located across the street. (The following photos were courtesy of Colin Strayer and depict Squeak’s Diner being moved from Middletown to a storage site in 2003.)

2003 photo courtesy of Colin Strayer

2003 photo courtesy of Colin Strayer

2003 photo courtesy of Colin Strayer

2003 photo courtesy of Colin Strayer

2003 photo courtesy of Colin Strayer

2003 photo courtesy of Colin Strayer

2003 photo courtesy of Colin Strayer

WLC 774 was a project I really wanted to do myself.  I had first come across WLC 774 in 1986. I accidentally stumbled upon Squeak’s one day 33-1/2 years ago while trying to locate diners painted in John Baeder’s 1978 book “Diners”.

It was diner love at first sight. 774 was one of the largest of its type ever made by Worcester Lunch Car Co. I hounded Stanley Zawisa for 17 years.  I really wanted to restore 774 — to be a part of it.  My enthusiasm got the better of me.  I sold it to Jon Savage for less than I’d spent on it to date.  I did so, because Savage impressed upon me he had the resources to restore it to the level of Lamy’s at Henry Ford Museum.

 Going back to spring, 2010, I’d proposed restoration would take 3 years.  Savage thought it could be done faster. It’s now been 9 years.  I also proposed the name Miss Lorraine Diner, which I understand Savage adopted.

From time to time I understand there’s talk about 774 finally opening in Pawtucket. I would be interested to hear about any developments.  I talked to / communicated with Dick Gutman several years ago about it a couple of times. I believe Dick was involved doing some consultation.  Dick kindly informed me of this as a professional courtesy, which I much appreciated. I told him what had happened and gave him my blessings.

I tip my hat to the gentlemen who worked on it in Pawtucket from circa 2012-2014. He was an older guy Jon Savage knew. I stopped by several times back then to look at the progress. My view was this gentleman had done some really good foundational restoration work.  The structure was stripped and really straight back then. But his work was very slow-going and he eventually stopped work on it. By 2012,  I’d done $10,000. in (unpaid) consultation work.  Savage made a lot of promises,  but never paid me for my work.  Never understood that. The math makes no sense. 774 could have been running by 2015. By now, been running for 5 years. Not being involved in 774 restoration has been one of my life’s great disappointments.

So, the restoration of WLC #774 continued with some consultation/expertise provided by Richard Gutman along with another contractor who came on board by the name of  Joe Pacheco of Abby Road Construction. Pacheco along with his crew worked on site off and on for the next few years and the outcome came fairly close to bringing the diner back to the way it might have looked when it was brand-new. The restoration included all new recreated Worcester Lunch Car style booths and tables as well as the re-chromed stools. Also, Dick Gutman provided 6 stainless steel ceiling light fixtures that had once graced the interior of the Black & Gold Diner of Roslindale, Massachusetts. Unfortunately the larger #774 needed 8 ceiling lights so 2 more were recreated  and you cannot tell which are the old fixtures and which are the new ones.

Back in November of 2019 it was announced to the press that the Miss Lorraine Diner was being readied to start serving customers in a fairly short amount of time, I guess good things are worth the wait! Denise and I took a drive down to Pawtucket on December 29, 2019 where I got my first look at the place which was 98% done. Workers were finishing up the parking area around the diner in preparation for paving. The interior still needed the restored stools installed by the counter and the completely recreated booths/tables had not been brought in. Then the news came of the diner opening on January 28, 2020 and I made plans to check it out, that happened on Monday, February 17th when myself along with my brothers Rick & Don went down for breakfast. We met Mike Arena who had signed on to operate the diner, becoming  one of five diners and restaurants that he’s currently running. The other places include the West Side Diner, Broadway Diner, the Lighthouse Restaurant and Amanda’s Kitchen, open for twenty-four years and named after his daughter.

Exterior view of the newly opened Miss Lorraine Diner.
February 17, 2020 Photo by Larry Cultrera

Exterior view of the newly opened Miss Lorraine Diner.
February 17, 2020 Photo by Larry Cultrera

Interior view of the newly opened Miss Lorraine Diner.
February 17, 2020 Photo by Larry Cultrera

Interior view of the newly opened Miss Lorraine Diner.
February 17, 2020 Photo by Larry Cultrera

Interior view of the bar/dining room of the newly opened
Miss Lorraine Diner. February 17, 2020 Photo by Larry Cultrera

Interior view of the bar/dining room of the newly opened
Miss Lorraine Diner. February 17, 2020 Photo by Larry Cultrera

It seems that lately, good news is hard to come by on the Diner front, but here is one that finally seems to have a happy re-birth! I will be back to try some other meals, hopefully in the near future and for years to come…

 

A friend’s recent book launch leads to my first real “Diner” road-trip in many years!

As you may have noticed, this is my first blog post in a while. Again I apologize for the infrequent posts but I have been scanning my collection of 35mm slides and prints, which has consumed a lot of spare time for a few years. The slides are all scanned but the prints take more time. The outcome so far is that the digital archive of Diner photos is growing.

Starting this past June, I have officially “Semi-retired” from my job, working only Tuesday thru Thursday, with 4 day weekends. That being said, an opportunity arose to actually plan a road-trip to New Jersey (which took place at the end of September). Now the last time I was even in the Garden State was just over 21 years ago – in June of 1998 to be exact.

The opportunity that presented itself was the publishing of a new book by my friend Michael Gabriele of Clifton, New Jersey. The book is his 5th book overall published by The History Press and 2nd book about New Jersey Diners. The new book is entitled Stories From New Jersey Diners: Monuments To Community. Gabriele had announced within the last couple of months that he would be having an official book launch at the Nutley (NJ) Museum on the evening of September 27th, a Friday night. This fit in perfectly with my new 4-day weekend schedule. I was actually thinking about keeping it a surprise and just showing up, but immediately nixed that idea, mainly because there were a few people I wanted to see when I got down there. So I let Michael Gabriele in on the possibility of my attending and he was extremely enthusiastic about my proposed plan and encouraged me to make the effort.

At the top of the list of people I wanted to get together with was Donald Kaplan, co-author of the very first book on Diners I ever bought, Diners Of The Northeast! I refer to this book along with Diners by John Baeder and American Diner by Richard J.S. Gutman & Elliott Kaufman as the Holy Trinity of Diner books that came out in the late 1970s and into 1980.

Cover of the original edition of Diners Of The Northeast, by
Donald Kaplan and Alan Bellink, the first “Diner” book that
I purchased circa October, 1980.

The cover sleeve of the original hard cover edition of
American Diner by Richard Gutman & Elliott Kaufman.
The second “Diner” book which I purchased in late 1980.

The cover of the first edition of Diners by John Baeder.
This is the third “Diner” book I purchased, circa January, 1981.

Even though I may have been aware of the books authored by John Baeder (Diners) and Richard Gutman (American Diner) had been published in 1978 and 1979 respectively, Donald Kaplan and his co-author Alan (now Allyson) Bellink’s book came out around September of 1980 right at the flash point where my diner awareness was just starting to take hold.

I had been a diner aficionado since I was very young and already started taking Sunday morning road-trips with my pal Steve Repucci since late 1979 to discover (or rediscover) diners for Sunday morning breakfasts. Also, I had just purchased my first 35mm camera and the thought was beginning to form in my brain to document these diners that were fast disappearing from the landscape here in New England. I estimate that I purchased Diners Of The Northeast sometime in October of 1980 and it swung the door wide open for the almost 40 year obsession that followed!

I purchased the other books American Diner and Diners within 3 months and had started taking my first tentative photos as well as expanding my already existent post card collection with a “diner category”. Now early in 1981, I had met and become friends with Richard Gutman and about a year later the same happened with John Baeder. But connecting with the co-authors Kaplan & Bellink did not happen until 1996 when I met briefly with Alan Bellink at a diner-related get together. My budding friendship with Donald Kaplan started much later (2010 or so) thru Facebook. Donald, (who lives in the Bronx) and I have become fast friends in the last couple of years. We speak at least once a week. I of course let Donald Kaplan in on my plans for a trip down toward New York and New Jersey.

So as far as the proposed New Jersey road-trip, I convinced my wife Denise that we should do this. Believe me, that is a very hard sell with her. I got reservations at the Hampton Inn in Carlstadt (near the Meadowlands Sports Complex) which put me in a very central location for where I wanted to be. I had called my old friend Arnie Corrado to let him know of my plans. Arnie, who along with his late father Ralph, owned and operated Rosie’s Diner in Little Ferry, NJ until they sold and closed it in 1990. We had lost touch for a number of years until I made the effort about 6 years ago and we have been in constant contact since.

There were other people I planned to meet up with at the event. These people included Les Cooper (from the family that manufactured Silk City Diners), Gloria Nash from Queens, NY (who I actually met within the last couple of months in Massachusetts), Mark Oberndorf ( a painter of vernacular buildings as well as homes, etc.) and Alex Panko (who, with his family owned and operated the Peterpank Diner in Sayreville, New Jersey).

Which brings us to the weekend of September 27 thru 29th of 2019. Denise and I left Saugus around 3:30 AM on Friday (the27th). We made our first stop for coffee and a bathroom break at the Vernon Diner which is located at Exit 65 right off of I-84 southbound in Connecticut. This place is an easy off/on to the highway and is housed in a former Howard Johnson’s Restaurant. The place is nicely done up as a modern diner including a vast display case of baked goods. Unfortunately, it was dark and I did not get photos.

Our next stop was Exit 10 in Newtown, CT. I wanted to get new photos of the Sandy Hook Diner, a small barrel-roofed diner that probably dates to the 1920s. After those photos, we drove back to the nicely redone Blue Colony Diner at the exit to have another coffee and bathroom break. I had photographed both of these diners back in the early 1980s. The Sandy Hook had not changed significantly but the Blue Colony, originally built by Manno Diners had a complete makeover in the last 20 or so years, done by DeRaffele Diner Company.

The Sandy Hook Diner, Newtown, Connecticut.
Photo by Larry Cultrera, September 27, 2019

The Blue Colony Diner, Newtown, Connecticut.
Photo by Larry Cultrera, September 27, 2019

Continuing on, we got back on I-84 and made it to Exit 2B on the western end of Danbury, before the New York state line. Taking U.S. Route 6 to NY Route 22 in Brewster, NY, we continued driving south to North White Plains. We took I-287 west to Exit 1 in Elmsford and got Route 119 south past the Eldorado Diner to the Saw Mill River Parkway and headed south on that road until it became the Henry Hudson Parkway. We got off at Exit 23 and headed south on Broadway through the Bronx to 231st Street. We continued west on 231st to Tibbett Avenue and south one block to the Tibbett Diner, where we met up with Donald Kaplan.

The Tibbett Diner, 3033 Tibbett Avenue, Bronx, New York.
Photo by Larry Cultrera, September 27, 2019

Donald Kaplan & Larry Cultrera outside the Tibbett Diner.
Photo by Denise Cultrera, September 27, 2019

After meeting up and spending some time with Donald, he convinced me to head a few miles south on Broadway to take the George Washington Bridge over to New Jersey, instead of going back to the Tappan Zee area and taking the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge over to the Garden State. I took his advice and it worked out fine, saving us some time. After crossing the GWB, we headed toward Little Ferry on Route 46 and contacted Arnie Corrado. We made plans to meet at the White Manna Diner in nearby Hackensack. No sooner did I get off the phone with Arnie, Michael Gabriele called to see where we were. I informed him of the White Manna plans and he immediately said he would meet us there…

The White Manna Diner, 358 River Street, Hackensack, New Jersey.
Photo by Larry Cultrera, September 27, 2019

Michael Gabriele, Larry Cultrera & Arnie Corrado at the White
Manna Diner. Photo by Denise Cultrera, September 27, 2019

Now Michael Gabriele and I have been friends for around 6 years since he contacted me after he contracted to do his first New Jersey diner book for our publisher, The History Press. But until the 27th of September, we had never met face-to-face! At the White Manna, Michael, Arnie and I partook of some wonderful sliders and enjoyed the atmosphere of this fantastically preserved Paramount Diner. Afterward, Michael went home and Denise and I visited with Arnie briefly at his home in Little Ferry before heading to our hotel to check in. After we were settled in our hotel room, we went out and searched for a late lunch and found the Candlewyck Diner in East Rutherford, NJ. The Candlewyck is a circa 1970s vintage Kullman Diner that was renovated on site in recent years and the new look, inside and out represents yet another evolution in diner design!

The Candlewyck Diner 179 Paterson Street,
East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Photograph by Larry Cultrera, September 27, 2019.

Michael Gabriele’s new book published by The History Press.

So, the major reason to come to New Jersey was to attend the launch of Michael Gabriele’s new book at the Nutley Museum. In fact I was slated to give a short slide presentation along with Michael and the other guest speaker, Les Cooper. It was lucky I had spoken with Michael on the afternoon before the trip. He informed me that the Museum’s laptop computer was on the fritz and wondered if I was bringing my own laptop PC. I of course was bringing it to use to get online, etc when I was at the hotel. So the evening of the book launch we setup with the museum’s large screen TV and fired up Power Point….

Gloria Nash, Arnie Corrado and Denise Cultrera attending
book launch event at the Nutley Museum. Photo by
Larry Cultrera, September 27, 2019.

Michael Gabriele speaking at the Nutley Museum.
Photo by Larry Cultrera, Spetember 27, 2019.

I also finally got to meet Alex Panko and Les Cooper both of whom I have known for a few years but had never met. Alex was a trip, pretty much the way I expected, he is extremely outgoing (not to mention a little hyper, he drinks an ton of Coca Cola). Les was also pretty much the person I expected, interesting and well spoken.

Larry Cultrera, Alex Panko and Les Cooper at the Nutley Museum.
Photo by Denise Cultrera, September 27, 2019

The next morning (Saturday the 28th), Denise and I went to have breakfast at the Bendix Diner on Route 17 in Hasbrouck Heights. It was wonderful to see all the neon in working order. The diner itself, a rare Master Diner, is really starting to show its age, both inside and out unfortunately. I shot some photos as the morning light was coming up and then revisited it in the early afternoon to get great daytime shots…

Bendix Diner, Route 17 in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey.
Early morning photo by Larry Cultrera, September 28, 2019

Bendix Diner, Route 17 in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey.
Early afternoon photo by Larry Cultrera, September 28, 2019

Around mid-morning, Denise and I drove over to Michael Gabriele’s home in Clifton and met his wife Julie as well as one of his sons (sorry Mike, I forgot his name). Then Michael gave us a little tour around the area to let me document some diners that I had not previously photographed. Let me say the light for taking photos this particular weekend was totally perfect and I lucked out. The following places were shot during that little excursion with Michael.

The Colonial Diner, 27 Orient Way in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.
This is a 1950 vintage Mountain View Diner modified with that
new roof topper and sign, while maintaining the original design.
Photo by Larry Cultrera, September 28, 2019.

The Red Hawk Diner located on the campus of
Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey.
Photo by Larry Cultrera, September 28, 2019.

The Park West Diner on Route 46. A nicely renovated Kullman
diner, originally known as the Golden Star Diner in the
Woodland Park/Little Falls area.
Photo by Larry Cultrera, September 28, 2019.

The Little Falls Diner, 11 Paterson Avenue, Little falls, New Jersey.
This place has been closed for many years.

On Sunday morning (the 29th), Denise and I got on the road early and headed north on Route 17. We stopped while it was still dark at the State Line Diner in Mahwah for breakfast! What a great place, I would have loved to get some photos if it were in daylight! We crossed the Hudson on I-287 over the recently completed Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. We reversed our path using the same roads we traveled down on Friday to head back to Connecticut.  On the way up Route 22, we bypassed into Katonah, New York to possibly stop for coffee at the Blue Dolphin Diner. Unfortunately, the diner was not open on Sunday morning and I noticed it is now operating as an upscale bistro. I also noticed the interior was extremely compromised with almost nothing original remaining. Very sad, but at least the outside still looked great.

The Blue Dolphin Diner, 175 Katonah Avenue, Katonah, New York.
Photo by Larry Cultrera, from September 28, 2019.

Just prior to crossing the state line into Connecticut, we stopped at Bob’s Diner in Brewster. It looks the same as the last time I saw it back in the 1980s with the exception of the paint color on the outside. A nice little downtown diner.

Bob’s Diner, 27 Main Street in Brewster, New York.
Photo by Larry Cultrera, September 28, 2019.

Shortly after crossing the state line, I stopped at the Mill Plain Diner (formerly the Windmill Diner) on Mill Plain Road (U.S. Route 6) in Danbury. I remember this diner as having a brick facade with a mansard roof back in the 1980s. Within the last year or so the place had an extreme makeover, inside and out by DeRaffele Diners and looks fantastic. I heard it is now owned by the same people who have the Blue Colony Diner in Newtown.

The Mill Plain Diner, 14 Mill Plain Road in Danbury, Connecticut.
Photo by Larry Cultrera, Spetmeber 28, 2019.

To finish off this early fall road-trip, we made one last stop in Connecticut before making it back into Massachusetts. We got off the highway briefly in East Hartford and I revisited a diner I had eaten in back in the 1980s, but never photographed. It has been on my bucket list for a while and I finally got my photos. The Triple-A Diner is a 1970s vintage brick diner with mansard roof that on the outside still looks similar to the way I remember it. The interior has gotten an update and is now bright and airy….

The Triple-A Diner, 1209 Main Street in East Hartford, Connecticut.
Photo by Larry Cultrera, September 25, 2019.

As I stated earlier, the weather could not have cooperated more than it did for this long-awaited interstate road-trip and I was extremely happy to get the photos I did, as well as meet new friends and reconnect with old friends. I will follow up soon with a review of Michael Gabriele’s book in the near future!

July 4th Interview – Boston Globe

I was honored to be interviewed for a piece that appeared  in the Boston Globe “G” section on July 4th. It is part of their series called the “G Force”……..

 

Medford native celebrates classic diners

G Force
July 03, 2012

WHO

Larry Cultrera

WHAT

From 1988 to 2007, the Medford native wrote a column about diners for the Society for Commercial Archeology Journal. Since then, he has maintained
his Diner Hotline blog, and last year, he published “Classic Diners of Massachusetts” (The History Press), which goes into its third printing this month.

Q. You write that your journey started in 1980, and you have since visited and photographed more than 820 diners. What spurred your interest?

A. I’ve had an interest in diners since I was a little kid, but it wasn’t until 1979 or 1980 that I became aware they were disappearing. I was also getting into 35mm photography around that time and [diners] fed my different sensibilities: my love of history in particular. The history grabbed me.

Q. What about the history?

A. I knew that diners were built in factories; they weren’t generally built on-site. It wasn’t until 1980 that some books were starting to come out. First, John Baeder, the photo-realist artist, brought out “Diners” in 1978 and it featured his paintings and drawings. And in 1979 Richard Gutman brought out “American Diner,” which was the precursor to a book he brought out in the ’90s called “American Diner: Then & Now,” which has since become the bible for diner history. Once I started reading the history and figuring out there’s all these different manufacturers that used to build diners and some that still do at that point in time, you start identifying the different manufacturers by the different styles, details they put into their products.
So it was like how a classic car buff could look at a certain car and say, “Oh, that’s a 1957 Chevy Bel Air and it’s modified in this manner.’’ A diner buff can say, “That’s a 1948 Jerry O’Mahoney and it’s been altered by doing this or that ” or “most of it’s original.”                

Q. Are New England diners different from diners elsewhere?

A. What really differentiates northern New England diners from southern New England diners, say, Connecticut, or even Long Island, N.Y., or Pennsylvania diners, is the fact that after 1960, especially by 1965, we weren’t getting any new diners up here, whereas the diners down in New York, southern Connecticut, were continually being upgraded. Owners go back to the factories and have new diners built, generally bigger than what they had. Up here, you could call them conservative-style diners, because they were just very small. And they managed to hold on, still dwindling little by little over the years. We still have the greatest collection of early- to mid-20th century diners anywhere.

Q. Does interest in diners ebb and flow or are they destined to eventually become extinct?

A. It sort of goes in spurts. By the late ’70s, diners were really starting to die out, especially around here. But with the books that came out, there came a resurgence. Right now, you don’t see too much happening around here except there’s a chain called the 5 and Diner that started out in the southwest, Phoenix. In about 2006, a family from Massachusetts decided to buy a franchise of the 5 and Diner and they opened it in Worcester, where the history of diner-building started. And within two years, they bought the whole chain.

Q. Which local diners are your favorites?

A. The Capitol Diner in Lynn, which has been run by the same family since the late ’30s, and the Salem Diner. Even though its current owners are fairly new to the diner, they’ve been in the restaurant business for many years and they are continuing the tradition at the Salem Diner and have rejuvenated
that place.

Q. In your photo, you’re wearing a shirt from Tim’s Diner in Leominster. What’s the story?

A. It’s a great diner and one of my favorites, primarily open only in the mornings. It’s one of the diners I wish I lived closer to because I’d be there a lot more often. The family that’s been running it has been running it since the early ’50s. It was originally known as Roy’s Diner. They’re famous for their fish chowder. The locals can’t wait for Fridays. It goes right out the door.

Interviewed by Glenn Yoder

Notes from the Hotline, 10-29-2010

Former Lynn, Mass. Diner opened in New Hampshire

The Riley Bros. Diner formerly located in Lynn, Mass. was moved within the last 5 years to the Ossipee, NH area. I had frequented the diner in the early 1980’s when it traded under names such as The Boston Street Diner and Serino’s Diner. I even recall it was known as Buster’s in the 1970’s.

Boston Street Diner, Boston Street – Lynn, Mass.
November, 1980 photo by Larry Cultrera

 This 1941 vintage Sterling Diner had not served food since the mid-1980’s when a new owner gutted the almost original interior and began running a Balloon & Flower Shop out of the building, until he moved the business around the corner to a larger storefront near the corner of Chestnut Street and Western Avenue a few years ago.

the diner operating as a Balloon & Flower Store, photo by Larry Cultrera

The diner after the Balloon & Flower Store moved out, that is Steve Repucci on the right, checking out the diner not long before it moved to NH!
Photo by Larry Cultrera

The diner stood empty for a short time until the property surrounding the diner and other adjacent buildings was developed for a new branch bank. In 2006 the diner was sold and moved to Madison, NH and is owned by the Silver Lake Railroad (a heritage railroad).

Riley Bros. Diner at new location, circa 2006 photo by Brian Page

Here is a blurb from Wikipedia about the SLRR….  The Silver Lake Railroad opened on July 7, 2007, operating from Madison Station (aka Silver Lake Depot) in the town of Madison. This station was a stop for the Boston and Maine Railroad from 1872 until passenger service ended on the line in 1961. The station has been restored over the period from 2002-2007, and much of its original features are intact. The original order boards and stationmaster office were undisturbed, as well as the interior of the station (now housing the Silver Lake post office), which displays its original varnished woodwork. Check out their website at….
http://www.silverlakerailroad.com/thedinertheslrr.htm

I received word from Bob Higgins not long ago that the diner had undergone a retrofitting and been reopened for limited food service at the Silver Lake Railroad. My pal Steve Repucci was in the area this past weekend and checked the place out (his first time seeing it since that time I shot the photo above with Steve in it) . Steve took the next group of photos…….

October, 2010 photo by Steve Repucci

October, 2010 photo by Steve Repucci

October, 2010 photo by Steve Repucci

October, 2010 photo by Steve Repucci

Steve tells me they are not operating as a regular diner possibly due to town Board of Health regulations and of course the SLRR is only open seasonally, in fact the season has just ended. So this means the diner is now closed until spring!

Richard J. S. Gutman to give new “Diner” Lecture

Diner Historian Richard J. S. Gutman is giving a brand-new lecture at
The National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Mass. 
on Saturday, November 20th at 2:00 PM.

Part of the Museum’s Lowell Lecture series, the presentation is called…

“What Is It about Diners? More Than a Meal, That’s for Sure”

Richard J. S. Gutman, director and curator of the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI, will hold an illustrated lecture entitled, “What Is It about Diners? More Than a Meal, That’s for Sure.” Gutman will elaborate based on 40 years of eating and research. The lecture complements the exhibition, “Night Road: Photographs of Diners by John D. Woolf.”  The lecture is Free and open to the public.

The National Heritage Museum is located at……..
33 Marrett Road (At the intersection of Route 2A and Massachusetts Ave.)Lexington, MA 02421

Diner Hotline Weblog celebrates 3rd Anniversary

Yours truly at Lunch Box Diner in Malden, Mass.
Photo by Denise Cultrera

This Sunday, October 31st marks the 3rd anniversary of Diner Hotline being on the Web! I cannot believe 3 years have gone by since I retired the old hard copy column from the SCA Journal and shortly thereafter, with prodding from Brian Butko, this blog was born! As I write this, the blog has gotten 134, 819 hits and I am hopeful that more and more people are discovering Diner Hotline through internet search engines as well as from connections like Facebook and the like! Thanks to all my faithful readers!

Images from the Past… Wightman’s Diner

Recently I got an email from Elaine Monast from South Attleboro, Mass. She found Diner Hotline and decided to contact me. One of the subjects she brought up in her email was Wightman’s Diner. She wondered why I did not have anything on this diner in the blog. I told her I did not have much but I could still do some sort of post on it as I thought it was a worthy subject!

Wightman’s Diner was touted as “The Largest Diner in the World” and at the time it was operating, this may have been true. The very first image I ever saw of Wightman’s Diner was in Richard J.S. Gutman’s book, American Diner (Harper & Row, 1979) and this photo really made an impression on me.

Wightman’s Diner, circa late 1920’s to early 1930’s, photo courtesy of
Richard J.S. Gutman

Located on U.S. Route 1 in South Attleboro, Mass., Wightman’s started out as a lunch wagon in 1923 and by the late 1920’s owner Elmer C. Wightman had upgraded to the diner you see above. In fact that diner consisted of 2 fairly large Jerry O’Mahony barrel-roofed diners flanking 1 really large O’Mahony car. This was huge for the time!

Detail image from the Providence Sunday Journal, October 9, 1938

The diner kept getting larger and by the late 1930’s it featured a large room on the extreme left hand side of the restaurant…. the Olde Mexico Room. This room featured the choicest of foods and liquors, finest dance floor surface and unusual floor show!

Between the Olde Mexico Room and the main diner was a 1931 vintage Worcester Lunch Car (No. 677) that was built as a dining room only (no counter or cooking area). This was a basic plain car for Worcester with no ceramic tile to speak of, just oak panelled walls and black & white linoleum covered floors. Its dimensions were 14 feet by 40 feet.

Wightman’s Dinette – a new dining room for those who desire prompt table service. An unusually pleasant room to bring the family.
Detail image & caption from the Providence Sunday Journal,
October 9, 1938

Wightman’s Diner match cover

Wightman’s. Largest Diner in the World. South Attleboro — Route 1 — Mass.
Banquet Hall: — Accommodations for large and small groups, showers, wedding breakfasts, banquets, sales meetings, social gatherings, etc.
Mexican Patio Room: — Where folks enjoy nightly, the choicest of foods and liquors, and the finest dance floor surface.
Phone Perry 1994 for reservations. Under the personal management of John C, Wightman, Prop. (caption from back of Post card)

Looks like Wightman’s also had a diner in Rumford, RI, a Brill diner according to the detail image in the postcard.

cover from Wightman’s menu courtesy of  Culinary Arts Museum at
Johnson & Wales University

Wightman’s menu page courtesy of  Culinary Arts Museum at
Johnson & Wales University

Wightman’s menu courtesy of  Culinary Arts Museum at
Johnson & Wales University

another Wightman’s match cover

Providence Sunday Journal – full page ad celebrating Wightman’s 15th Anniversary, October 9, 1938

According to the Worcester Lunch Car Company work books, there was also a Wightman’s Diner in Pawtucket, RI. This was Worcester Lunch Car No. 675. It was located on Pawtucket Avenue and was a 12.5 feet by 30.5 feet barrel-roof with “Tables for Ladies” as well as counter seating.

I’m not sure when Wightman’s stopped operating but there is no trace of this once sprawling complex in South Attleboro. I do know that Almac’s market built a store on the sight (possibly late 1950’s to early 1960’s). More recently, Almac’s closed and Yankee Spirits liquor and wine stores currently runs an outlet in the building.

Thanks, to Dick Gutman and the Culinary Arts Museum for providing images as well as Elaine Monast for providing the incentive for this post.